Conveyer for sheet material



J. PLONKA.

CONVEYER FOR SHEET MATERIAL.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 14, 1922. 1 A3Q86 Patented. Oct. 117, 1922.

3 SHEETSSHEET l.

R M w w m 6 w S o 1/ MM N\ F W j n O V O m mp m 3 P Q T. m H -II -Ilm mm m, m fl o u o Q T M M m m 0 \lll l n m w ml 0 i IIH I 0 W W Q M I B 6 Q E; m w W I\ M w J. PLONKA.

CONVEYER FOR SHEET MATERIAL.

APPLICATION FILED MAR 14. 1922.

Patented Oct. 117, 1922,

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

M1 va /V701? M J. PLONKA.

CONVEYER FOR SHEET MATERIAL.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 14, I922.

Patented Oct. 117, 1922 3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

|| |||I.|l AH llllllllllllLll rll w Kw 3 N aafigu IN I/E/V 70 w/ T/VELS'YSES 4 L I 4 1 I Fatented @ct. l7, 1922.

barren stares I rennet Jenn enemies, or woonnavvn, rnnnsrtvanrn.

application filed March 14, 1922. terial lt'o. matte.

' conveyers leading from the branning machine of a tin-plate mill; lts object is to carry the plates one by one from the branning machine and to stack them automatically upon buggies. Hitherto ithas been necessary to gather by hand the plates as they lie super-= posed in irregular manner on the delivery side ofthe branning machine. An attendant grasps by opposite edges a handful'of the plates and turning-them to vertical position and holding them loosely, he drops them on edge upon a suitable surface, thus stacking them after the manner of a pack of cards. It isan undesirable expense, to pay for a workman here; and, besides there is of necessity, incidental to an irregular delivery, with plates falling one upon another in a haphazard manner, and incidental to manual stacking of the irregularly superposed plates, and to the. dragging about, a very appreciable element of" damage. And this it is desirable if possible to, prevent.

A conveyer embodying my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing? Fig. l is a plan view from above; Fig. l is a view in vertical section, on the plane indicated by the line HH, Fig. I. Fig. HI is a view in side elevation.

chine appears in fragmentary showing at 1. Plates are delivered from this branning ma chine over rollers 2 and under brush 3 and upon a conveyer, which as here shown includes three horizontally extending parallel rollers a, of which the first and third are liv e,--that is to say, positively rotatedwhile the intermediate roller, though in the drawings shownto be a live roller, may be an idle roller. 'lhe conveying, apparatus Referring first to Fig. l a branning ma spring after the manner indicated above. lit will be understood that the branning machine includesmechanism for efiecting advance of plates under treatment through it, and that till the delivery roller 2,- and indeed, the conveyer rollers a as well, constitute part of that mechanism.

My invention is found in conveyer apparatus arranged to receive the plates as they advance one by one from rofls 4 and, receiving them, to convey them and stack them automatically in a buggy or on another suit able support. This conveying apparatus includes, combined with delivery mechanism such as that described or itsequivalent, a live transfer table and a bumper spring. With these a chute or chuteswill ordinarily be correlated in the manner shown. The

live table is made .up of a plurality of par.- allel-r'ollers 5, in this case seven, although the number is relatively unimportant. lit hes across the delivery end of the conveyor made up of rollers l. These rollers 5 lie perpendicularly to rollers l and in a somewhat lower plane. As conveyerelements the have by virtue of their position and their rotation two characteristics They serve as skids upon which plates advancing from rollers 4: slide, until the previously acquired momentum be expended; and they serve also to impel the plates in a new direction, a direction at right angles to that imparted by the branning machine and its immediately.

associated conveying mechanism Rollers 5 are, as will be perceived, geared together, to rotate in V unison, and driving connection may through clutch mechanism 6 be established at will with either oneend 'or'the other of the axle of the positively driven proximate roll 4, and so rollers 5 may be rotated to carry the material either to the right or to the left, and in a direction at right angles to the direction of advance from the branning machine.

' At the opposite end "of rollers 5, remote from rollers 4 isarranged a spring 7. Thi

conveniently takes the form of a heavy vancing plate, and being folded about rigid plate 8, the fold being such as to admit of play and yet securing the spring from displacement.

-At opposite ends of the transfer table made up or live rollers 5 are arrangedinclined chutes 9 with convergent side plates anchored at its ends by the opposite margins of a' leaf .or band, bowed toward the ad 10. Provision conveniently made'for swinging these chutes to increase or decrease as need may be the degree of inclination and to direct the line of delivery as used may be. Such provision, is illustrated in Fig. II,

where the chutes are shown to be pivoted-at will be understood that this drawing shows the accurately'formed stack which it is the end and aim of my invention automatically to achieve.

Fig. III shows a convenient assembly,

with the delivery rolls 4 of the branning machine, together with the transfer mecha nism of my invention, mounted on a mov: able carriage 13. By this arrangement the whole assembly may. be removed forpurposes of repair and to give free and ready "access to the branningmachine. In this connection it will be observed that the delivery roller 2 is shown to be a permanent part of the branning machine, and that His provided with a spur gear 14 which when the carriage 13 is brought to place meshes with a gear 15 .mounted on carriage 13, and T 4 through which, the proximate roller 4 is driven. Y By these instrumentalities, together 'with the sprockets and gears shown, the

- whole conveying apparatusfmay be driven.

Operation is as follows. When the bran- 'machine squared exactly to rung machine is in service the mechanism for efi'ecting advance of plates through it is in operation and as part of that mechanism roller 2 is turning. Carriage 13-being in place, thetransfer table consisting of rollers 4 is active and in condition to carry material in the direction indicated by the arrow, Fig.1. Clutches 6 are so set that the second transfer table, made up of rollers 5, is active also, and efi'ective' to carry material in this case to the right, in the direction indicated-by a second arrow. Chute 9 on the right is to the buggy 12, brought to proper position on the'right. I I Y The plates as they emerge from the branning machine invariably lie somewhataskew from the line of travel. This is a condition incident to manipulation, and it is difficult to conceive any way of carrying the lates' through the branning machineand su 'ecting them freely to the branning opera tion and yet bringing them out of the branning the line of advance. As conditions now-are, there is a hap-hazard element in the positioning of the plates, and this hap-hazard element is really the cause of prior difficulty in props erly stacking the successively delivered plates.

chute at the. of; plates rest- "ing upon it. From what has gone before 1t function it rights properly adjusted, to deliver plates.

i iaeaoee Considering the individual plate, it lies upon rollers 4 in an indeterminate and usually :irregular position and in response to the turning of the live rollers l'it advanees over and passes from rollers l. As it advances it comes'tobea'ring upon rollers 5 andslides underthe momentum which it then possesses longitudinally upon-rollers 5.

The inferior position of rollers 5 facilitates such advancal The rotating rollers 5 tend to turn the plate as it so slides, but this signifies not at all. The plate is advancing with such momentum that it slides across the table formed by rollers 5 and strikes,

upon spring 7 Spring 7 performs a double the plate in its position, and it absorbs the momentum, and it throws the plate back upon'rollers 5 in substantially squared position. v When the plate-has so recoiled from spring *7 it lies upon rollers-5 free of contact with the spring, aligned with the direction of furthertravel, or substantially so, and substantially centered in the path of-further travel, and entirely. passive to the operation of rollers 5. They alone are now eflective.

Rollers 5'carry the plate to the right, with measured speed, and impart to'it ameasured momentum. The plate enters chute 9 on a substantiallycentered courseny minor misplacement is corrected by the convergent side walls of the chute, and from the chute, the plate advances-accurately directed and under momentum sufiiciently regulated, so that the successively delivered plates come automatically to position with substantial accuracy, to form a regularly built stack P.

The advantage of the alternately directed delivery of the apparatus, to the right hand or to the left, lies in this that without intermission of delivery a full buggy may be removed and replaced while another buggy I is receiving a load.

A further advantage willbe perceived in I arranging the trans er table composed of rollers .5 at lower level-than that composed of rollers 4. (Inthe machine I have built and now have in operation the interval is two inches). If on any account it be desired, delivery may be interrupted .for a few -minutes without interrupting the operation of the branning machine. The hitherto active clutch 6 may be opened without closing the other clutch. Rollers '5 will then stop. Delivery from the branning machine will continue and the successively advancing plates will merely stack themselves upon the secondtransfer table (that made up of rollers,5) until, the cause of interruption being attended to, one or the other of clutches 6 is closed, and the material stacked on the transfer table is delivered in like manner as a single sheet.

The practice of mdy invention saves time, for there is no nee to stop the branning inaaoee machine becauseof conditions of delivery; and, as I have already explained, the cost and wastage incident to manual dragging other, the second tablelying beyond andextending across the delivery end of the first and a spring arranged on the side of the second tableremote from the delivery end of the first table whereby the advancing sheet rebounding from, the spring lies upon the rollers of the second table squared to its new direction of travel substantially as de-' scribed.

2. Conveyer apparatus tor sheet material .ncluding two transfer tables, each consisting of positively driven rollers, the two ta-. idles being arranged angularly the one to the other, the second table arranged ata lower level than the first and lying beyond and extending across the delivery end of the first, its component rollers all'ording a skidwvay to material advancing from first roller; and a strap spring arranged at the side of the second table remote. from the delivery end of the first table and bowed towards the first table, substantially as described.

3. Conveyer apparatus for sheet material includlng tWo transfer tables, each consisting of positively driven rollers, the two tables being arranged angularly the one to the other, the second table lying beyond and extending across the delivery end of the first, the ultimate roller of the first table being provided at its opposite end with oppositely disposed beveled gears and the-train of rollers Which constitutes the second able. be-

provided With beveled gears adapted to izitermesh alternately with one or the other of the two said bevel ed gears upon the ulti mate roller ot the first table, and means for shifting the said beveled gears "of the secend table, substantially as described.

in testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

" JQHN PLONKA.

Witnesses I Q ROBERT QREIGHTON, BERT 1h. Pro. 

